St Cadoc's Church is on Manor Drive, Glynneath (SA11 5RE). This is a few minutes drive away from the Mc Donald's Roundabout on the A465. Manor Drive is located opposite the Leisure Centre.
St. Cadoc's Church, or Aberpergwm Church is the parish church for Glynneath. It began life as the private chapel of the nearby Williams family of Aberpergwm Estate, although Saxon's map of Glamorgan 1567 does indicate a place of worship, Capel Aberpergwm (the chapel of Aberpergwm) on the current site.
Rees Williams made improvements to his estates and commissioned the present Aberpergwm Church to be built in the early nineteenth century (the main body of the present building appears to have been constructed between 1800 and 1810). His son, William Williams, returned from a sixteen year tour of Europe and Asia and in 1837 used money from his new wife’s family to re-design Aberpergwm Church and add the present chancel area.
The East window stained glass were recently photographed for a magazine and it's been established that the central 4 panels come from the cloisters of the former Premonstratensian abbey of Steinfeld in the Effiel area of Germany. They were painted between c. 1530-1542 and show abbots and monks being presented to, or by, saints. The panels were removed under order of Napoleon to raise money, bought eventually by a British man who sold them on to gentry. Other panels from Steinfeld are now on show in the Victoria and Albert museum, so in the stained glass world, this is quite something!
There are benches (not pews) for the congregation as in catholic churches abroad, a staircase to the organ loft (concealed by a screen) would have been in the style of Greek churches.
There was a service of blessing and re-dedication on the 19th of May 1841, and the parish of Aberpergwm received it’s first recorded minister, Revd. Evan Evans, curate. One should note that Aberpergwm was not an independent parish, the mother church and Vicar continued to be at Cadoxton. From 1861, the Williams family became patron to the church – as well as having responsibility for contributing to the church’s income, patronage meant that the Williams family could influence the choosing of the minister. The first vicar was Revd. John George, marking the start of the independent parish of ABERPERGWM. When the Church of England was disestablished in Wales after the First World War, and the Church in Wales was formed, the church was transferred from the Williams family over to the Anglican Church.
The neighbouring parish of Blaengwrach was originally part of the church Glyn Corrwg, group of churches in the Afan Valley; but in 1940 it was incorporated into the new parish of Aberpergwm with Blaengwrach. And in 2004, the Parish of Resolven was joined and the new parish of the Vale of Neath was created.
Recent restoration work at St Cadoc's was completed in 2001 and included work on the roof and bell tower. In 2003, a toilet and kitchen area was installed and in 2007 a new car park area was created. The church will be celebrating it's 200th anniversary in 2010 and we expexct to continue our restoration project as part of the commemorations.
In 1993 the Welsh Office classified St Cadoc’s church a Grade II Listed Building and is described by CADW (the heritage group in Wales) as being largely “perpendicular Gothic , a long rectangular aisle-less church built of local split stone and rubble with deep red sandstone dressings”. The church contains a fine interior with vaulted plaster ceilings that are ribbed with leaf bosses in the chancel, reached through a Neo-Norman arch with carved head. Outside the church is a memorial to the Williams family, known as the Wedding Cake Memorial, which also has Grade II listing status.
The Lamb and Flag is a symbol which is to be found in many aspects of the parish. It is the emblem of the Williams family and has found its way into many features of the church and the community of Glynneath such as the Town council, Cwmnedd Primary School, Glynneath Male Voice Choir, the Rugby and Football clubs and various pubs.
In 2010 we start a major project to renovate the church and conserve much of its historical aspects. Stone conservators Sue and Lawrence Kelland are restoring the effigies from the Williams family.
